TestComplete 8 Made Easier - Keyword Testing : Good book? Anyone using it?

There's a companion book as well called TestComplete 8 made easy .  I'd recommend this one along with the Keyword Testing one.  The reason being is that there's certain things that you can do with coded scripts that, while possible with Keyword Tests, are more cumbersome.  For example, I have yet to find a nice way of creating a customer SQL Query using a keyword test to retrieve data from a database for use in the "next" test in a data driven loop.  For that matter, when creating a DDT framework, sometimes you want to retrieve select records from one of your data files rather than retrieve all records.  The standard DDT Loop in Keyword testing retrieve all records or a hard-coded range of records while using DDT Drivers and manipulating the ADOCommandObject.CommandText properties allows you to pass in custom SQL queries to retrieve only specific records.



BOTH books I would highly recommend as, while they are not necessarily "So you want to set up a data driven framework... here's what you do", they do walk you though a lot of the basic necessities of navigating around the tool, the various different features, and the many different built in objects and such.

Robert...you ARE the best.

Thank you again ;-D

You're welcome again, Steph.  While I'm not a SmartBear employee, I've used the TC tool in various versions for the past 9-10 years, back when it used to be called AQTest (version 1.52 was the first version I remember using).  It has grown amazingly in it's capabilities and it's usefulness for automated testing tasks and I'm happy to spread the joy to others. :-)

A man after my own (QA) heart. ;-)

Hi Stephanie,



While I have nothing to add to Robert's reply but just to agree with him, I'd like to note that the documentation that comes with all tools by AutomatedQA/SmartBear (i.e. TestComplete, AutomatedBuildStudio, AQtime, AQdevTeam (really sorry it was discontinued) and other smaller tools) is probably one of the best ones that I've ever seen.

It is very informative, very good structured and covers not just application specifics, but also a generic areas (e.g. what is load testing, what is the difference between stress and performance testing, etc.).

Personally I very like to go through it periodically in order to refresh things that I am not using too often and to check if I did not miss something that was introduced/improved in the latest versions.

Installed version of the tool includes online help and Word document of the same contents, so it is possible to print the document and have something for the reading on the beach... ;)

Thanks Alex



I agree with you.

I do have the Test Complete Made Easy for TC 7.

It is a pretty good doc and does cover the basics.



I really want to see the new features 'in print'. And it's

easier using a hard copy when working with s/w for me

than using on-line manuals. ;-)



What is missing from the doc set are more comprehensive publications

that focus on one particular interest such as Named Mapping, load testing

or using Test Execute. The current doc sets only scratches the surface but are great for 'coming up to speed'.

(hmmm that would defeat the Consulting part of the business I suppose. But could open

the publication market! Hey SmartBear doc writers! More docs to write! ;-)



It's forums like this and http://www.sqaforums.com where I get alot

of 'undocumented' advice (and give some at times).



I'm not hoping to get extensively deep info from these books but they will

show the new features (as of publication) and were written by different authors

than the TC7 set I have so I will surely get some interesting information to use.



Thanks again!

Steph

Hi,

as I am evaluating TestComplete for about 3 months now, until now I have only used the online docs. I have to say the online docs etc. are not always as useful as I hoped it could be. Only much of the 'surface' is touched, and I am looking for more comprehensive documentation.



I have a copy of the book TC7 Made easy, but  in my opinion this is not going into depth as well.



I wonder if someone has already bought TC8 Made Easy and/or TC8 Made easier , and what the experiences of these books are, related to comprhensiveness.



Please advice.



Regards,

Mathijs

Any feedback about the usefullness/comprehensiveness about the "TestComplete 8 made easy" book, compared to the online documentation?



I am in doubt if buying the "TestComplete 8 made easy book", helps me further compared to the online documentation.

(I am a newbie in scripting land...)



Please advice.

I've been at it for about 5 years now and I cannot strongly recommend enough

1. Taking a training course

2. http://www.sqaforums.com 

3. http://smartbear.com/support/viewarticle/14427/

4. http://smartbear.com/support/screencasts/testcomplete/

Enjoy

It's a great world when you automate.

;-)

I'll tack on to Stephanie here that, in order to get the most out of TestComplete beyond just a glorified macro recorder, you should do some reading up on your chosen scripting language.  If you plan on using JScript, go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/yek4tbz0(v=VS.85).aspx and just start reading.  If you're looking at DelphiScript, while it's more a reference for the full Delphi/Pascal language set, http://www.delphibasics.co.uk/ gives a LOT of info on the different methods, properties, objects, etc, available.  A quick google search for "<language> reference" where you replace <language> with the script language of choice will yield all sorts of stuff.



While I come down hard on record and playback automation, it is probably the best place to get started and start learning how an automated test is structured.  There are also plenty of sample projects included with TestComplete that, IIRC, the "Made Easy" books reference frequently.



In short... dive in and enjoy!  I don't think you're going to find any book that will tell you "To write an automated test for application X, do this" but there is plenty of reference out there to instruct and help you as you work on building automated projects.